After the Ceremonial Duel - Seto Kaiba's wish
by Yuna Yami Mouto
Summary: 5 years after the Ceremonial Duel, Seto feels like there's nothing interesting in life. Mokuba no longer needed him, his rival had left and his company was doing better than ever. But still Seto longed for one thing he thought he can never have back. Will the Gods award what he has done in their service in two lifetimes? Seto Kaiba and Fem!Yami


**After the Ceremonial Duel - Seto Kaiba's wish**

 **A/N: Hi! Welcome to my new story! This could end up being just a preview of a longer story that has been stuck in my head ever since I started writing Living the Past, Seeing the Future. Depending on how this goes and how many people like it, I will write the whole story. For now, it's like this!**

 **I'd like to thank all my fateful followers, especially Red-Eyes-Black-Dragon, a guest ivystar and my new partner 4fireking, as well as Queen of Yugioh, who has been reading my stories for a long time and a new friend, Money100!**

 **Summery** **: 5 years after the Ceremonial Duel, Seto feels like there's nothing interesting in life. Mokuba no longer needed him, his rival had left and his company was doing better than ever. But still Seto longed for one thing he thought he can never have back. Will the Gods award what he has done in their service in two lifetimes?**

As a fresh layer of snow covered Domino City, Seto Kaiba sighed in his big, empty mansion as he drank an expensive scotch. Life was just so ... _dull_ these days that he sometimes wondered if it was all the same day. After all, things were finally normal, but Kaiba has never been a normal child.

Ever since five years ago, when a respectable rival of his left to join her family, his life seemed to be lacking something and worst of all, he knew exactly what, but he could never have it again. Mokuba was on a ski trip with his friends, the Yugi-tachi were off to God knows where, and there was no more work for him to finish, so he just looked out his office window.

Mokuba, now eighteen, was finishing Domino High as one of the honor students, very much like his older brother, and he would be heading to college by the end of the year (it's 31th December). The Yugi-tacho broke off as soon as they graduated. It was like now that that one spirit was no longer there, there was nothing more to hold them together. Anzu went off to America, Jou finally asked Mai out and they're now married. Honda decided to pursue Miho, his high school crush and now finance. Ryou moved back to England and the Ishtars stayed in Egypt. Otogi dated Shizuka for two years, then they broke up because of something stupid and the dice master moved back to America. Yugi and his grandpa were probably the only ones who stayed in Domino at all times.

What was surprising is that Pegasus adopted many orphans, even though he and Cynthia already have a biological daughter. The silver haired CEO kept in touch both because of business as well as because he would become nostalgic. Cynthia was enjoying the life that the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle has provided her with and they made sure that the story of that one girl never dies. Amelda finally gave up on Seto long enough to realize Valon's feelings for her and they hooked up. Rafael disappeared from public eye, although there were stories saying that he was working on making better ships and ship equipment with his immense fortune. However, there was also the story that he died while trying to bring Dartz's underwater tomb to the surface.

The Hawkins live with the Moutos now, seeing as Rebecca was going to marry Yugi some time this summer. Siegfried and Leon became one of the most famous Schroders, but Schroder Corp was still quite far from Kaiba Corp on the influence, technology and popularity list. Noah, who was also given a second chance at life by the ancient spirit, was now working for Seto in their American branch. He and his girlfriend were hitting their first anniversary next month, and Mokuba was bragging about finally getting a date with the girl he likes.

It was so boring, these past five years. The world received quite a shock when the highly popular and deeply loved Queen of Games was announced to have been in a plane accident somewhere over Egypt when she was returning to Japan on a private jet, and all chaos broke lose for eight months. The story was only a cover up, but the truth was that they will never see the Duel Queen again.

Yuna Yami Mouto, as the world knew Pharaoh Athena of the Egyptian Crown, used to be the best duelist and gamer to have ever walked the earth. She never lost and her legend as unbeatable stays to this day. But in their time, this present, she didn't belong, or so Ishizu says. Athena was the only person who could have done so much for their society by just existing in it, as she proved over the years.

Seto met the girl under strange circumstances. At the time he was trying to stop himself from becoming the monster Gozaboro Kaiba had been trying to create. He was fighting the darkness in him when he met Yugi Mouto and his friends and that old spirit. It had all started when he learned that Yugi's grandfather, Sugoroku Mouto, had the forth legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon. When he tried to trade for it and even buy it and the old man refused, he let his darkness out and he tricked Yugi into giving him the card to look at it at school. only to return him a fake. Yugi had noticed, however, and when Seto had left him to his bodyguards, Seto for the first time met his rival.

As he had been leaving the school property, Yugi had stopped him. Trying to hit him with his briefcase, Seto was shocked as the timid teen coughed it and twisted his arm behind his back, forcing him to drop the metal item. The voice that had whispered ''Kisama!'' in his ear was most definitely not little Yugi. It held power and confidence, a strength and authority the innocent boy could never portray, no matter how much he tried.

His curiosity peeked, Seto had looked over his shoulder and gasped as he saw two blood-red eyes in the place of the two innocent amethyst eyes his classmate has. That was the first thing he noticed, and then he noticed how the figure was now a lot more slim in the waist as well as the chubby legs seeming longer. The stance had changed to one of arrogant confidence, yet it held a grace that could rival the movement of water. When he finally got his arm out of the Yugi's hold, Seto took in the sight before him. He couldn't believe this was little Yugi, but he was right. That wasn't Yugi. That was his future rival, the spirit that had slept 3000 years in the upside down pyramid around Yugi's neck, the Millennium Puzzle. it was obviously a girl, what with her curves and the breasts in Yugi's school uniform. She was also a bit taller than Yugi.

Seto couldn't believe how pretty the girl looked with her three-colored hair and almond-shaped, crimson eyes. Her limbs were slim and long, but they hid a lot of strength. The angry eyes spoke of an ancient intellect that Seto had never seen before and the voice that spoke to him couldn't have been a mere girl's voice. This was the being he came to call Mou Hitori no Yugi until later.

Mou Hitoro no Yugi had challenged him to a Duel for the stolen Blue-Eyes and Seto had foolishly accepted, landing him in a Shadow Duel. The spirit won and gave him a Penalty Game which gave him nightmares for years to come. He had come to hate her for it and Yugi as well, since he was her host. He sent his game masters to play Yugi's other self, but none succeeded. It was maybe a month later that he challenged her again, but this time it was in a tournament, his own Death-T after he had defeated Yugi's grandfather and tore up the fourth Blue-Eyes white Dragon. He had trapped little Yugi and his friends in a deadly amusement park contraption, making them go through dangerous challenges. He had left them to his game's mercy, but the Mou Hitori no Yugi didn't show up. It was only when they thought that Honda was dead when Yugi allowed the spirit to come out.

The Mout Hitori no Yugi then defeated his little brother for the third time (first time was when Mokuba had dragged Yugi off to play Capsule Monsters Chess with him and lost, ending in a giant capsule; the second time was the night before when he challenged the Other Yugi and Jou to roulette with poisonous food) and saved Mokuba from a Penalty Game Seto had been willing to put him through. After Mokuba had begged her to save Seto's good heart, the Other Yugi went to Duel against the young CEO, defeating him with Exodia, something no one had ever been able to do before.

Seto still remembered the next part like it had happened yesterday. The Mout Hitori no Yugi entered his heart, searching for something she could cling on to so she could let Seto live as she promised Mokuba. Just as she was about to give up, she had heard a child's cry for help and a protective roar of a dragon. The brunet remembers how she followed the weak roar and the cries for help until she found him, or rather his true self. Buried deep in the darkness, the Mou Hitori no Yugi found Seto Kaiba's heart of hearts. It was in the form of a five year old boy cradling his newly born baby brother, both of them being defended by a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. The dragon's two siblings had already fallen victim to the evilness that Gozaboro had cramped into Seto's young hear, yet it still kept trying to protect the boys.

Upon seeing the dragon's injuries, the Other Yugi used her powers and banished the darkness away, but in the process she broke Seto's heart, telling him to resemble it in order for him to go back to who he really is. Before the girl could leave like she had arrived, little Seto called out to her. When he asked her why she saved him, her answer was that he deserves a life without bitterness and hatred being the dominant emotions in his heart. She walked over to him, knelt in front of him and raised her extended pinky, asking Seto to promise her that he will do his best to solve this new puzzle. Little Seto accepted, but he demanded for her to be there when he places the last piece and the Mou Hitori no Yugi accepted. Just as she was to leave, Seto gave her her very first name: Yami no Tenshi. The name came from her being his 'protector' yet she represented darkness or the shadows. It was never spoken in the waking world, not even between them when they confronted each other about it. That first time Seto saw her, and every other time she visited his mind, she wore a black tunic and kilt with a crimson cape and lots of gold. Upon her proud forehead was a tiara-like crown that indicated she was no commoner.

Seto stayed in a comatose state for two to three months until he felt a strange jolt. By that time he was almost finished with the puzzle of his heart and he was familiar with a whole new side of Yugi's other self. Every time Yugi visited him in the real world, his Yami no Tenshi was helping him with his puzzle. However, he found it strange that they didn't come at the same time they usually do and that scared him. He soon felt like shit, not knowing that the Other Yugi was wandering if he hated her. He heard her silent call, however, and his Blue-Eyes reacted, not attacking her. She won that duel against his impersonator and he woke up.

The first thing on his mind when he woke up was her, but when he heard that Mokuba was kidnapped by Pegasus, who he had a contract with, he almost forgot about the girl until he saw her again, after trashing Jounochi Katsuya in a duel when he landed on Duelist Kingdom island. It had been so brief that none of the Yugi-tachi noticed it. At the time, it angered him that his only worthy rival was treated as a nobody would be, but now he was happy and proud to say that he was the first ever to notice her as a separate entity.

The next time he saw the girl was after he confronted Pegasus and witnessed his brother's soul being dragged out of his body. He had been ready to kill at that point, but he wanted to kill Pegasus for making him do it. Being forced into a rematch he wanted to have but not under those circumstances was something he has yet to forgive Pegasus to this day. He had learned from Mokuba that his Yami no Tensh had made a connection with him as well because she thought of the brothers as a team. The older CEO had also told him that he could see an ancient power protecting his mind and heart, therefore he couldn't read either of the brothers as clearly as he could others. Seto hadn't really understood that one, but he didn't ask. Pegasus J. Crawford was as crazy as they come. But he understood that Mou Hitori no Yugi was now protecting both him and his brother.

However, when he met her after insisting that Yugi let her out for a duel he was almost as bad as he was at Death-T. When he thought that he was going to lose, he endangered himself by standing at the edge of the tower, daring her to attack him. The ancient spirit had been hesitant, but then she called an attack when she realized that she would be disrespecting him if she didn't give it her all. That was the first time the whole Yugi-tachi realized she wasn't some part of Yugi, but a person for herself. Yugi had stopped the attack and Seto finished the duel as a victor. He had sneered at Yugi, not accepting that his rival was the weak little boy.

Seto had never felt an emptiness like the one that ensued as soon as he walked away from the little group. He had felt something snap and the protective weal that has been there ever since Death-T was gone, leaving him exposed. He didn't understand what had happened, so he had ignored it. That was his first mistake. The second had been that he underestimated the powers of a Millennium Item.

The young CEO had been happy to see that Yugi had made it into Pegasus' castle as a finalist, meaning Yami would get a chance to duel as well. He was enraged that his rival couldn't watch directly but had to do so through Yugi's eyes, but he felt better about the fact that his respected rival didn't see Pegasus forcing his hand with his brother's life. However, as he dueled he felt someone prodding at his thoughts and he realized too late that Pegasus had managed to break whatever had been protecting him from the man. As he fell into trap after trap, he realized that his Tenshi was no longer at the back of his consciousness. She was always there! As Pegasus told him he had lost, he taunted Kaiba for losing the protection he usually seemed to have. The older CEO found it strange that it only happened after he defeated Yugi and the brunet took the hidden hint. Pegasus suspected who his guardian had been.

The next part was both as clear as day and as distant and clouded as a dream. Seto remembered feeling a searing pain as his soul was snatched out of his body, but he swore he saw a gold door open and Yami running out to try and save him. She had been close, but his soul was extracted out of his body. He remembers looking through the card Pegasus had imprisoned him in as the silver-haired man taunted him.

A dark, dangerous feeling had settled into the room as Yugi suddenly fell to the floor, clutching his head. From what Seto saw on the security tapes later on all three present Millennium Items had started glowing and the gold light had enveloped Yugi as four other gold beams that came out of nowhere did the same. The little boy had screamed at the top of his lungs as the Puzzle danced on his chest. What happened next Seto still found hard to believe. A transparent figure suddenly walked out of Yugi and Shadow Magic and Light enveloped the being. All of them had watched as the figure solidified before their eyes, creating a beautiful creature.

It was the same girl that seemed to guard his heart and soul.

The spirit of the Millennium Puzzle was a dangerously beautiful girl. She had a nice body that would make any man, even a gay man, drool at the sight of her. Her limbs were slim and long, hiding her real strength. She was taller than Yugi by a head, making her up to a little bellow Seto's shoulder. Her hips were slim and seductive, her shoulders small and her overall appearance was delicate. She had small, delicate hands with long fingers and her feet were petite. Her proud neck was like that of a swan and ivory in color. Her hair was even more magnificent in all its glory outside of Yugi's body. It reached to around her waist and was a lot more vibrant i its three exotic colors. The three bangs that ran through her hair, as well as the ones framing her lovely, heart-shaped face were in the shape of lighting and resembled gold. Her skin was darker than Yugi's. Her nose was petite and her lips, petal-like. Her slim eyebrows seem to be fixed in a frown, even when she had a gentle expression on her pretty face. Her eyes where sharp and almond shaped, their color far more beautiful when they weren't covered by Yugi's amethyst eyes. Even through the camera, Seto had been able to see the two rubies flash as the Mou Hitori no Yugi hissed at Pegasus.

The ex-spirit had jumped from the railing, two stories up, onto the arena just as Pegasus' employees were about to take away Seto's soulless body away and the power wave she emitted as she landed sent them far off into the hallway behind them. The ones around Mokuba had the same fate and Pegasus had started shaking in his pants as the Puzzle spirit warned him that his punishment for disrespecting her rival and friend wasn't going to be a light one. The man, and everyone else, had been terrified of the power resting in the slight form, even the spirit of the Millennium Ring, who knew the limitations of the girl's power doesn't exist.

Seto had watched the rest of the tournament, the parts that had to do with his rival at least, through the footage of the security cameras. He was surprised that his rival had been so distracted through her duel with Mai Kujaku just because he and Mokuba were in trouble, as well as how she defeated Pegasus after supposedly closing off the link to Yugi.

Pegasus had kept his word, but from what Seto saw on the footage, the silver-haired CEO looked ashamed as he had congratulated Yami on her victory. After watching a bit more, he found out that Pegasus had been trying to revive his dead wife. Seeing the true depth of Pegasus' feelings, Yami had took the card that held Cynthia's soul and gave up almost all of her power just to give the woman a healthy body to live in. This happened after Pegasus lost a brief Shadow Game to the spirit of the Millennium Ring that rested around Ryou Bakura's neck. A little after Pegasus was defeated, Mokuba woke up and they began searching for Seto around the castle. Seto had still been in the dungeons when he had woken up and he had felt like it was useless to move or live until he saw something in front of him. It was him as a young boy, still playful and innocent, holding his Tenshi's hand as he excitedly motioned for him to follow. Getting up, Seto allowed the two to help him get out of the castle and he found Mokuba. While he was hugging his little brother, his younger self (his unconscious part, as he learned later) put the last piece of his heart puzzle into its place, completing the ancient spirit's challenge. What he found really disappointing was that he had missed Yami's physical being there while he was reassuring his brother that he was fine. Mokuba told him that she was beautiful after they got home and told him how she's searching for her memories or something. But it seemed that before he could see her, the little of her energy that was left was too little and she returned into the Millennium Puzzle.

He didn't see Yugi or his Tenshi for a week, but he could once again feel her presence at the back of his mind. IN the meantime, Pegasus had been accepted into a hospital and was recovering while creating documents for the powerful spirits in the two Millennium Items. One Saturday he had called the Yugi-tachi and introduced them all to the now alive Cynthia, saying that he wanted to repay his ''daughter'' for what she did for him. The documents stated that the spirits' names were Yuna Y. Mouto and Bakura A. Bakura respectively and that the spirit now called Yuna was the winner of Duelist Kingdom and the Queen of Games, Yu Gi oh.

The following Monday, Domino High School received two transfer students from Egypt and Seto experienced the shock of his young life when his Tenshi walked into the classroom in the usual Domino High uniform with only the blue, boy's jacket instead of the pink one. The two new exotic students were the talk of the school and many guys started hitting on the Queen of Games, but Yuna ignored them. The only people she paid mind to were the Yugi-tachi and Seto and Bakura. Yuna was practically ignorant of her beauty, not realizing what she was doing to many poor guys all over the school, but one guy was going to try and steal the respect she had for her only living equal.

Otogi Ryuji had no regrets in tricking Jou in a game to get the Game Mistress' attention. The only thing he wasn't expecting was for her to challenge him and show him the bitterness of defeat. She left Otogi hanging s she left for the rooftop, where she found Seto and spent the entire day playing silly verbal games with him until she felt Yugi calling out to her for help. All though they were separate now, Yuna and Yugi still had the mental bond that allowed them to talk without making a sound. Seto had watched as she used her powers to jump off the roof and run towards her destination. He followed her as best as he could, but he lost her somewhere in the city.

He was lucky that Mokuba had been checking out the new arcade and game shop, the Black Crown, and had seen her run into the shop then be escorted by some clown into a game room. When Seto got there, Yugi was tied up in some weird chair and Yuna's Millennium Puzzle was in pieces beside Otogi as his father, the clown, urged him to solve it. Ignoring Yugi and his friends, Seto had ran towards Yuna and held her steady through the remainder of the game while Mokua freed the Yugi-tachi. Bakura and Ryou appeared a little after Seto and returned the Puzzle pieces to their rightful owner, but Yugi was too distressed to solve it and Yuna was quickly losing her energy. Bakura ended up placing the Item beside the former spirit and she started solving it with a speed that stunned everyone. The Puzzle was no easy thing to solve and Seto overheard Yugi saying that it had took him eight years to solve it, but Yuna was almost done by the time she trashed Otogi.

Otogi accepted defeat as he saw the gaming skill the girl possessed, but his father took Yuna by her hair and hauled her into a secret room and started solving the Puzzle for himself after he had thrown something in the brunet's eyes. The Millennium Item reacted to its master's weakened stated and the intruder. Mister Otogi was driven almost insane from fear. In his fright he had started a fire and Yuna refused to move until the Puzzle was solved. Taking charge of the situation, Seto had ordered Bakura to make sure everyone was out and that he would get Yuna. Jou and the others protested, but Bakura had forced them out. The CEO still remembered how his younger sibling cried out his name over and over again in fear for his safety, but Seto had forced himself to ignore it.

As soon as Yuna finished the Puzzle, she collapsed after a big bright flash of gold light. Picking her up, Seto had ran through the entire building, but he wan't fast enough. As the roof over them gave way, all Seto could do was clutch his Tenshi to his chest and he cried out ''YAMI!'' at the top of his lungs. Yuna's eyes snapped open and a big flash came from her forehead as the golden symbol of the Eye of Ra appeared on her forehead and the two were wrapped in shadows. Seto had watched as the building collapsed around them and when he looked down at his companion, he found her whimpering as she used so much energy that she passed out. The fire was still raging around them, but no heat was felt behind the shield of almost transparent purple shadows.

It had felt like eternity before the fire department stopped the fire and started checking for survivors. The others had been watching in fear as the remains of the shop were removed and suddenly the team came across the orb that was protecting the rivals. The firemen stared in stunned confusion as it repealed anything that came near it, throughly isolating the two teens. Even Bakura didn't know how to break through it, but when Mokuba called out to them, Seto looked up from his rival and saw his brother. As he stood with Yuna still safely in his arms, the same eye appeared on his forehead for a split second and only Bakura saw it. He took a step back from the CEO as Yuna's powers slowly stopped their flow through her new veins. The orb disappeared and Seto rushed to one of the ambulances, demanding that they take the girl to the hospital because she breathed in too much smoke from the fire.

Two hours later, everyone was checked over and deemed fine, although Yuna had to stay the night in the hospital as she was still unconscious. The Kaiba brothers shocked everyone when they were the ones to stay with her. Yuna woke up in the morning to the sight of Seto working on something with Mokuba curled up beside her.

Ever since that day, Bakura was a bit wary of the CEO, but Seto didn't understand until, one night, a woman by the name Ishizu Ishtar invited him to the local museum. She showed him two tablets, telling him all about how Duel Monsters came to be from an ancient game that was played by sorcerers. Worst of all - he was a High Priest to Yuna, when she was Pharaoh. Sure, he had sneered at the time, but now he wondered if it would have changed the whole outcome if he had just accepted it. Maybe she would have stayed that way ...

Seto shook his head as his thoughts once again went to his ''dead'' rival. It wasn't so strange anymore, since it became quite common during his tournament, Battle City. He had created it when Ishizu gave him Obelisk the Tormentor, one of the three God Cards, so he could hunt down Rare Hunters and reclaim his title as the best duelist from Yuna. It was just convenient that he could collect the other two God Monsters in the process. It had all happened a week or so after he had been trapped in his own virtual reality game by his board of directors, the Big Five. They were technically dead now, not that he cared. They were just Gozaboro's tools he took an advantage of.. Fixing up his Duel Disks, he turned Domino into a huge battlefield for Duelists. He had made sure that scum couldn't get into his tournament, yet Jounochi got in due to one Rare Hunter wanting his Red Eyes Black Dragon. Jou ended up needing Yuna's help to get it back and she defeated Exodia in the very first match of the tournament.

However, not long after that, Yuna vanished from the eyes of his satellite and Seto went to search for her with Mokuba. They had walked the entire length of Domino before they found her facing Slifer the Sky Dragon against some mind-controlled mime. Yuna was on her knees as the huge red Dragon raged against its current master's words toward the Queen of Games. Said girl was clutching her head as tears started gathering in her eyes, but when Seto spoke up, Yuna focused on only him. Whatever had been bothering her was forgotten in the face of a challenge from her rival and Yuna soon won, earning her her first God Card.

Seto had immediately issued her a challenge but Malik, the one who controlled the mime, announced that he was after Jou and Yugi's other friends. Giving in to her Aibou, Yuna had ran off to try and save them, but she was stopped in an alley by two freaky guys wearing masks. They challenged her to a duel and then started playing jan-ken-yan to decide who would go first until Seto demanded the two duel against both him and Yuna. He didn't like how they were eying his beautiful rival and there was no way he was letting Yuna out of his sight after he had searched for her for so long. That duel ended after the very first turn, when Seto summoned his Obelisk, demanding that Yuna always only looks at him. The girl hadn't been scared by the blue God, but she felt safe and at home in his presence. It appears that she, too, had spoken with Ishizu and that some of her memories were surfacing slowly.

Yuna had tried to run off again, but Seto had demanded that she wait and ordered his employees to find the bonkotsu. Unfortunately, their loved ones were captured by Malik's servants and they had to team up in a double duel before they could go after them. In that duel, Seto had seen first hand how Yuna was ready to swallow her pride for her friends and it made him mad that he was in second place to a mediocre duelist like Jou. Although the ex-spirit saved him many times, his ego wouldn't take it lightly that the only reason she was in this tag-team duel with him was because of her geek friends.

Seto felt a migraine coming on as he remembered how angry he had been with the way their opponents were checking the Duel Queen out and yet she seemed oblivious. It wasn't possible for her not to know she had that effect on men and that she should stop wearing such short skirts. Even Seto couldn't really concentrate with her long legs so exposed!

After they were done with those two idiots, Mokuba had arrived and told them that Anzu and Jou were in Malik's hands. Yuna had once again been ready to run off after them, but Seto had grabbed her around the waist and put her into the copter. Mokuba had sent him a sly grin as he methodically sat his brother in the middle so he was brushing thighs with Yuna. The raven-haired boy was grounded for a week after the tournament was done.

Throughout the ride, Yuna told them all that she had learned about herself from both Ishizu and the memories she got back after seeing the tablets and the two God Monsters. Seto had been gob-smacked as he listened to what she said and he couldn't believe how similar it was to what that crazy Ishizu woman told him! When they arrived at the pier, Yuna was forced into a deadly duel against a mind-controlled Jounochi. Yugi had forced her back into the Puzzle the last few turns and the little punk had dared to remove the Puzzle from around his neck and gave it to the blond. Jou, under the influence of Malik, had removed the center piece from the Puzzle and Seto felt a cold fear creep through his veins. He didn't know about all that magic bullshit, but he knew that Yuna resided in that gold Item and that she depended on it. Yugi gave up the duel when he forced an attack onto himself and he and the Puzzle went under water with Jou quick to try to save him.

The Millennium Puzzle had fallen off of Jou's neck as he dove in after his friend and only Seto had noticed. Something had took over him that day s he jumped after the Millennium Item. Being a good swimmer and a lot heavier than the Puzzle, Seto had been able to snatch it before it got too deep. As soon as he surfaced, Seto had cradled the Puzzle in his hands and called out a challenge to Yuna, even as he mentally screamed for his Tenshi. Much to his relief, the crimson-eyed girl responded almost immediately as her body materialized in Seto's arms. The brunet found it unbearable to feel her shaking so violently as a sob here and there escaped the usually fearless girl. It took a while for the beautiful duelist to calm down, but by the time she did, the Yugi-tachi realized she was there and Jou had snatched her out of Seto's arms.

Seto growled as he remembered hearing the proud girl whimper as the blond idiot took her out of his embrace. Just as Jou was about to yell something at him, the Pharaoh showed them her power and Jou went sailing through the air and landing a good two miles away from them, into the sea. The group all stared in wonder as the ex-spirit stood on shaky legs and plopped down in Seto's lap again, nuzzling her head against his chest and saying something about a long day and a nap before dozing off. Now, Seto wasn't one to be surprised easily, but this stunned even him. He remembers blushing slightly, but he had hugged the still slightly shaking girl and she had calmed down completely, sleeping peacefully in his arms.

Fearing that the helicopter would wake her up and not wanting to call for a limo, Seto had tagged along with the Yugi-tachi, who were staring at him like he had grown a second head or something, s he lead the way to the secret location of the tournament quarterfinals. Seto lovingly carried the proud Duelist as she slumbered until a limo crashed through one of the posters and Jean-Claude Magnum stepped out to propose to Mai. Seto had growled as Yuna stirred awake but she only stretched and put her arms around his neck, further shocking everyone.

Magnum challenged Mai to a duel for her hand in marriage when she turned him down, and after defeating him he tried to kidnap her and force her to marry him. Luckily, Jou had saved the blond duelist and it made Seto wonder who the mutt liked more: Yuna or Mai? The brunet ignored the others as he started carrying Yuna to the final destination, but Magnum then noticed the petite girl and asked her for a date. Even as the Yugi-tachi protested, Yuna only brushed him off, saying that he would have to earn it, but she wasn't interested either way. Determined to get a date from the Game Queen, he called her a coward and Seto lashed out at him with a string of insults and threats that the actor started shaking like a lief as the CEO carried away his rival.

When they got to the place the blimp would land and take them to their final destination, Yuna finally asked the CEO to let her down so she could wait for her friends. He had noticed someone was in that damned arena and had demanded that the lights are set on, but he couldn't find who was there, and then the others came. He was glade that Yuna looked a lot better than before, but then all that shit happened as Malik introduced himself as Namu, a kid who had 'saved' Ryou in town, and then Ryou came. Both Namu and Ryou were looking far too much in Yuna's direction for it not to be suspicious and Seto was right when first Ryou revealed that he was actually Bakura when the spirit left Ryou's body, taking away the injury right before his duel with the Game Queen. But before that Seto had had to stress with a Malik-wannabe and the eight late duelist. She came before the blimp took off, but she didn't show up when the first duelists were being decided.

The first duel was Bakura vs Yuna, an ancient battle repeating itself only without a certain High Priest there to look after the Pharaoh, as the Thief taunted.

Bakura was a tricky opponent, but Yuna had manged to summon Slifer the Sky dragon on her last turn, and in Seto's eyes she proved that she's his only rival for the title of the ultimate Duelist. After Bakura had defied Malik in order to keep his Hikari safe, Yuna ordered an attack and Slifer wiped out the rest of Bakura's life points. The Thief fainted and retreated into the Millennium Ring. Ryou had been so shocked by the kind deed that he later on tried to return it but had failed. Anyway, Seto had been relived to see that Yuna was fine and safe.

The next duel had been Jou against the man that had introduced himself as Malik, but turned out to be a guy by the name Rishid and that he was Malik's servant. Namu was Malik, but the darkness of his hatred took over and a new entity was born. Marik was a crazy lunatic that wanted Yuna's unlimited power and her death. In the third duel of the quarter finals, he had summoned The Winged Dragon of Ra and almost killed Yuna, Jou and Mai. The ex-spirit had ran in front of the blond due while Jou was trying to untie Mai from the binds that came from one of Marik's cards but was too slow, and Jou was then trying to protect the unconscious Pharaoh when the attack stopped. Marik had frozen him in place and was about to stab Yuna with the hidden dagger in the Millennium Rod, but Seto had stopped him. Seeing that his Item wouldn't work against Kaiba for reasons unknown at the time, Marik had just banished Mai's mind to the Shadow Realm.

Both the Kaibas and Yugi-tachi were relived when Yuna woke up after a few minutes, but it was too late Mai. Unable to see Yuna so guilty, Seto had snapped at the group that it was time for his duel. When his opponent arrived, he taunted the woman about being scared and scolded her for daring to be late for his tournament. The brunet was surprised to see that his opponent was none other than Ishizu, but he didn't let that distract him.

Throughout the whole duel, Ishizu kept insisting that he was a reincarnated High Priest and that he should accept his destiny. Finally getting fed up with it, he had became merciless in his moves until Ishizu used a single trap to revert their positions. Through his will alone, and the encouragement Yuna's words ''I can see the road of our battle stretching to the end. It does not end here ... it is endless!'' gave him, he was able to last long enough to summon Obelisk. However, when he was getting ready to attack, a vision of him kneeling in front of some stone tablet while holding a dead woman in his arms appeared and stopped him. On the tablet was the carving of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon and it somehow made him change his mind about using the God Monster to finish the duel. Sacrificing his God Card and another random monster, he summoned his fateful Dragon and won the duel.

From what he knew, Ishizu gave her Millennium Necklace to Yuna since it no longer worked for her. That night he witnessed Bakura and Marik dueling on the top of his blimp, Malik helping the albino as a spirit. He could see him, even though the camera wasn't able to catch his image all that good. He had been studying the satellite picture of Ra and was astonished that he could read the ancient text on the card, just as he could read what the High Priest had written on that damn stone tablet, when he saw a commotion up at the arena on a security screen. He was surprised at how good a duelist Bakura could be, but Marik knew too much about Ra. He then saw what the God Monster could do and he was surprised to realize that it was Ryou who had dueled up to that point until Bakura took over at the end to save his host from the pain. Yuna arrived a few seconds after the end of the duel with Anzu and Seto had immediately went up there to protect her from the madman should it be needed.

When he ha arrived, Ishizu had been there and Yuna and Marik looked ready to start another Shadow Duel. However, everything stopped as the Millennium Rod in Marik's hand suddenly rejected the man as a beam of gold light shot towards Seto. Expecting to be hit, he had braced himself for pain but the only thing that he felt was weightlessness as he witnessed his supposed incarnate crying over someone he was holding in his arms. Thinking that the Priest was just a crybaby, Seto had almost vomited as he saw the empty, childlike face of a tan Yuna, filthy with blood and dirt. The vision had been brief, but the second he was back, he had drawn Yuna into his arms, not daring to let go. As if sensing his distress, Yuna entered his heart as his Yami no Tenshi and started soothing the little boy that resided there while the physical Yuna just rested against his chest with her hands balled into his shirt.

Marik had left as soon as he saw his opportunity and Seto had escorted Yuna to the room she was sharing with Yugi. He hadn't bothered to ask what had been going on, but he had stopped when Yuna had asked what he had saw. The CEO had said that the High Priest seems to be a crybaby, but when he talked to Ishizu after he left Yuna, the woman had told him that the man had been crying in both sorrow and shame, since he had failed to protect the girl. Vowing to not let himself make the same mistake, Seto had returned to studying the Ra card until a strong turbulence had alerted him that something was wrong.

A few minutes later, he was talking with a messed up kid that insisted he was superior to Seto. The kid introduced himself as Noah and he said that he would take away everything Seto held dear, including his rival. Mokuba had actually came to clutch at the girl's hand and dragged her to his older brother as the aircraft finally landed in Noah's underwater facility that was the same one Seto had once designed for Gozaboro. Wrapping an arm around both of them, Seto had steadied the three of them as the last of the turbulence stopped.

When they were forced to leave the blimp, Seto was holding his brothers hand and had wrapped an arm around Yuna's waist in a possessive protectiveness that had earned him quite some teasing later on. When they entered the heart of the fortress, the Big 5 greeted them and explained that they wanted the CEO's death as well as to humiliate and punish Yuna. After all, it had been her that had helped save Seto, and then they had combined their power to defeat them.

After they were told the rules, Noah had separated them in order to make them easier prey. Seto wasn't sure what the others had to go through, but he and Mokuba had went down the memory lane, as Noah had said. The sights were too much for the young CEO and for most of the time, both brothers felt their Yami no Tenshi's presence in their hearts. As each memory became more painful, Yuna had started getting closer to them. Seto could just feel her presence near them and just as Honda, who was controlled by one of the Big 5, took Mokuba, the Queen of Games met up with him, the rest of Yugi-tachi behind her.

He had taken off alone, but Yuna never allowed him to brush her off that easily and had followed him. He was then confronted with another of the Big 5 in the form of Jinzo and he'd had to duel him in order to go after his baby brother. The duel was no where as tough or exciting as his duels with Yuna, but Seto had to admit that the idiot hadn't been all that bad. He guessed that years as a game genius' assistant finally rubbed off on the older man, but Seto's love for games never did. He hated Seto for tricking them all into overthrowing Gozaboro when the man had loved the same things as them: money and weapons. However, learning that hatred and bitterness wouldn't get him all that far in life, Seto had focused on his promises to Mokuba as his fuel in the duel and he had won. When he had taken off after Mokuba again, Noah had sent Yuna god-knows where and no one saw her until Seto's duel with Noah.

In the meantime, Seto had had to go through more memories alone and was even confronted with a mind-controlled Mokuba with Noah at his side, telling him that the green-haired kid was the only big brother he knew. It hurt, but he knew that his brother would never say something like that and he had been clinging to that to the very end of what he remembered of his duel with said green-haired punk.

On the last turn he remembered, he'd had the right combination to destroy Noah, but the kid had decided to play dirty and had used Mokuba as a shield. He'd felt his heart break in his panic and the now familiar feeling of his Tenshi trying to sooth his distress. When he had finally came to the end of his resolve, Mokuba returned to his side, only for the two of them to be turned into stone by Noah. He remembered watching from Yuna's point of view as he and Mokuba felt a rage they had never expected to come from the calm Queen of Games run through her veins as she issued a challenge to the punk.

Yuna's duel with Noah had been tough, seeing as she was starting with 300 life points and Noah's were over 9000, yet Yuna never gave in and for the first time, Seto had a chance to support her in her soul. Yuna won in the end, freeing both the Kaiba brothers and her friends who had also been turned to stone. That's when Noah tried to take over her body, but was repelled by her strong magic. Just as he was asking who Yuna was, Gozaboro's face appeared on the sky, scorning at Noah for his failure. As it had turned out, Noah was Gozaboro's only biological son and his body had died about the same time Seto had finally been adopted into the Kaiba family. After Gozaboro revealed his plans to trap the entire planet into the virtual world through one of the old satellites Seto had designed, Yuna, all three Kaibas and the Yugi-tachi all looked for an exit. When they reached the supposed emergency exit, Seto was sent in front of the KC HQ to face off Gozaboro.

He had been horrified to see Yuna, or what looked like her, in clothing befitting the lowliest whore, chained wrists and feet, gagged and blindfolded in a big glass container. His bastard of a stepfather said she was the most beautiful trophy he was looking forward to claiming, which set Seto off on a blind rage. Accepting the asshole's challenge, Seto found himself once again facing off against Exodia, only a different form of the unstoppable protector of Egyptian lands. Too bad for Gozaboro that Seto was a Duel Monsters champion and that his will to win was far greater than Gozaboro's. Just before his final turn, Noah had started speaking to them from the real world through Mokuba's body, saying he and the raven-haired boy had an agreement that Mokuba would let Noah use his body to free the others.

When he defeated the bastard, Gozaboro had tried to force a win by attacking Seto once he transformed into a big, red monster, but Yuna, the real _proud_ Yuna, had arrived just in time to move the platform on which Seto was standing. Yuna was the last one in the virtual world when she got to Seto, and the two had then ran up to the roof of the virtual Kaiba Corp building. When she told him to jump, he did so only after he took her in his arms, trying to protect her as they fell. He woke up seconds later in one of the pods with Mokuba still in the one on his left while Yuna was slowly waking up in the one on his right.

After his brother woke up and started protesting that they can't leave Noah behind, Seto had grabbed his hand along with Yuna's and started dragging them towards the exit, but Yuna suddenly stopped, wrenched her hand free and ran back in the direction of the pods. Knowing that he couldn't go after her since he had Mokuba to take care of, Seto continued running with a sinking heart even as Mokuba desperately cried out that they can't leave _Yuna_ back there, either.

They had managed to get close enough to the blimp, where the other's had already been waiting for life off, only to find Yugi waiting on the fortress still, refusing to leave without his Other Self. Upon seeing the Kaiba brothers, Isono started to lift off and Jou grabbed Yugi and lifted him onto the stairs even as the boy screamed and trashed in the hold. Grabbing Mokuba's yellow west and throwing him at Otogi and Honda in order for his brother to be safe, Seto himself jumped onto the blimp and his employees steered the aircraft off of the damn underwater fortress.

They had all watched with tears slowly rolling down their cheeks or being on the verge of crying as Seto tried to escape Gozaboro's lat attempt to kill them when the flames from the explosion started chasing the blimp. Just as Isono said that they had no chance of escaping, everyone on the blimp was startled when they heard a loud roar and Fubeta reported that there was an incredible source of energy near them.

Seto still remembered all the feelings he had felt when they had all seen Slifer the Sky Dragon wrapping its red, snake-like around the aircraft and protecting it from the flames as it speed up their escape. As the giant Dragon's passed the control room in order to get to the top of the blimp, the Yugi-tachi and the Kaiba brothers cheered as they saw Yuna standing on top of the blue crystal of Slifer's forehead. Seto had never felt so relieved and happy and he had ran off as soon as he ws sure that they won't crash to greet Yuna on top of the blimp.

When he got on top pf the blimp, he was greeted with the sight of Marik trying to intimidate the girl as a one of the hundreds of Kuriboh's glared at him, causing the bastard to start laughing. The rest of the Kuribohs were acting as a bed for something and as soon as Marik raised the dagger in the Millennium Rod to stab Yuna, Seto had acted faster than ever and ran up to him and almost threw him off the ship in order to save his rival.

Just as he hugged Yuna, she tensed as a whimper was heard from the pile of Kuribohs and after giving him a peck on the nose, Yuna bent down and lifted a small body onto her back and raced down to the doctors. The Yugi-tachi were stunned to see her running like that with a Kuriboh following her and the young CEO that was hot on her heels. Seto hadn't been able to see who Yuna had been carrying because of the bouncy Kuriboh, but once Yuna stopped in one of the empty rooms and the fur ball calmed down as the Queen of Games called one of the doctors to check on whoever she brought with her did Seto see the aquamarine hair of the boy that was lying on the bed.

He actually gapped at the sight of Noah on the bed as the rest of the geeks reached them. They followed his lead and just stood in the doorway, gawking at the impossible boy on the bed. Mokuba had tears in his eyes and Yugi looked torn between amazed and awed. When the boy had woke up, the first thing he had said was ''Nee-chii'' to Yuna and had burst into tears when she had answered him. The scene was something Seto would never forget, how Yuna had looked so motherly while she held the weeping boy and had soothed him. Noah had drifted off into a peaceful slumber after he had cried out his little heart and then it was the young CEO's turn.

As soon as they had been alone, he had grabbed Yuna and hugged her tightly without even knowing why he was doing it in the first place. All Seto had known was that he had almost lost Yuna and he didn't want to let her go. Yuna had let him do it and had even snuggled into his arms further, where Seto found her asleep moments later. He had taken her to her room, which was right across from his own, and tucked her in. He had been shocked when he saw that Kuriboh had jumped onto the bed and was snuggling up against his rival. He had chuckled and petted the little fur ball, only to jerk his hand away in shock when he felt that he was indeed solid.

Back then, Seto hadn't known anything about Yuna's powers except that they were incredible. He hadn't wanted to believe in magic, so it was easy denying everything, even though he knew that his rival's corporal form was living proof, just like Cynthia and then Noah had been. Now, it was a whole different story, since he had witnessed so many things since then, but all the magic left in the world couldn't give him back what he now most wanted.

The next morning, the semifinals started with them landing on his remote island, Alcatraz. The whole group had left the blimp and he had explained that everything was going down in the tall tower in front of them. In the four-way duel to decide who would face whom, Seto had given it his all to make sure Jounochi and Marik would end up in the first match up, but Yuna had insisted on protecting the mutt. He had managed to make Jou believe that Yuna thought he couldn't take care of himself, so she was helping him. He had angered his rival back then, but the mutt had taken the bait and he had succeeded in his mission.

In the first duel, Jou would have almost won if he hadn't fainted just as he was declaring the final attack. On the technicality of things, Jou lost and Marik had tried to intimidate his rival after that duel. Yuna had been so enraged that Seto wondered if the fear he felt run through him at the sight of the furious red came form his ''incarnate's'' respect for his ruler (Yuna).

Yuna had been bummed out because of Jou's condition and Seto had tried to distract her with their duel. The Yugi-tachi looked at him with disgust, but he had sworn that he had seen her small smile of thanks, but she had still left with them to check on Jounochi. He had secretly followed her and managed to stop Marik from attacking her in the hallways of the Battle Ship. The bastard had taunted him that Seto, too, wanted to take the Pharaoh. Quickly getting fed up with his bullshit, the brunet had driven Marik's head into the nearby wall and returned to the top of his Duel Tower.

Yuna was quick to join him and as the Duel started, Seto couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if he had won that Duel. Would he have defeated Marik and acquired all three of the Egyptian God Monsters? Would have his rival stayed? Or would he have lost and just endangered Yuna even more as Marik acquired the three Cards?

As the Duel progressed, Seto had felt his undeniable urge to win and dominate his rival in every way possible. Ever since the tournament has started, Seto was always hearing about his supposed ancient self and it was seriously starting to tick him off! Wanting to be the only one on her mind, the brunet had done everything he could to ensure that Yuna's attention was only on him. It was rather hard with her friends always around her like shadows, but he had managed for a short while.

The Duel was intense from the very first move. They matched each other move for move, play for play and Seto had never before felt so alive. The power rush he got from it made him a bit dizzy, but he knew that he should savor the feeling since he had thought at the time that his only rival could be defeated. It was only after their last ever adventure that he had learned it was supposed to be impossible. He could never forget how it had felt to have all of Yuna's attention on him and him alone, and he had felt the desire, the _need_ to monopolize her very thoughts.

Yuna had been so beautiful in her element and when Seto had later watched the recording of the Duel, he was surprised at how calm he had looked when he had been mesmerized by her from beginning to end. His Tenshi was just so different from all other girls and he had never before felt a need for someone else in his life with the obvious exception of Mokuba.

During the Duel, they had taunted each other, yet no insults were thrown and Seto hadn't felt the need to strike low to get a reaction. He knew that it would only make him look like a dochebag and he didn't want Yuna to see him as less than best. He had felt thrilled with how strong his rival was and Seto felt a new, completely foreign desire burn deep within him. A desire to claim Yuna as his own.

When they both summoned their God Monsters, Yuna being the first to do so with her amazing and cunning strategy and Seto following just the next turn, Seto had felt like he could finally beat his undefeated rival. Marik was the only witness of their duel until the summoning of Slifer the Sky Dragon. It seems that the power that was radiating off of the God Monster somehow transfered to the Battle Ship and Mokuba had been able to contact their HQ and then transmit the duration of their duel.

The fight of the Gods wasn't an easy one, but at the end both were destroyed as Yuna and Seto were trusted into a vision of the High Priest and Pharaoh's duel 5000 years ago. It had shocked the brunet to see conflict behind eyes so much like his own and he was disturbed by the fact that Yuna, as the Pharaoh from the vision, seemed reluctant to duel despite her words saying differently. He had acted purely on instinct when he had snatched her into his arms as she tried to reach out for the High Priest. He didn't give any explanation for his actions when Yuna asked, nor did he let go of her until they felt the pull on their souls and were once again in the present, panting as if they had ran a marathon.

Seto hadn't wanted to believe what he had seen in the vision, especially the love with which the Pharaoh that looked so much like Yuna had looked at Seth with. It felt like Seto was somehow losing Yuna and he wouldn't ever allow her to leave without his consent. It gave him new determination to show Yuna just how ridiculous she was being for relying on Ishizu's predictions and such stories to build her future and he had told her that he considered the past only a wight that didn't allow him to fly.

Even though he could clearly see that they have been destined, really destined, to duel each other, he didn't want it to be slighted to that alone. Seto wanted to make a place for himself in Yuna's mind and heart and he was determined to do so by winning the duel, but he allowed his anger and hatred get the best of him. Yuna won, saying she wants to absorb all the darkness that left remaining in him so that he could walk the road of his future without ever being blinded by something.

It was at that time that he had to resist the urge to rally kill Jounochi, who had woken up a little bit before the end of their duel, as he hugged Yuna to congratulate her on her victory. Yuna had seemed so tense and she had unexpectedly mumbled something about her cousin killing the blond if he ever saw that happen. It had everyone staring at her as if she had just grown a second head and when they all asked what she meant, Yuna told them that she had remembered him sometime during their stay in Noah's virtual world. She told them that she only remembered him being cold and arrogant to everyone but herself, and that he was far too overprotective of her. It was interesting to hear, but Seto had a feeling that she wasn't telling them all that she remembered.

Not wanting to linger on it, Seto had just given Yuna Obelisk and started heading out of the Duel Tower, only to be stopped by Yuna asking him to stay for her duel. Although Seto wanted nothing more than to stay and watch his rival beat the shit out of Marik, he knew that his presence won't change the fact that Ra was far too hard to defeat and he didn't want to see Yuna if Marik won. He knew that he would't be able to survive if he had to watch the life leaving those beautiful red eyes he had accidentally came to love.

Before he could even give his answer, Jou had started insulting him and ended up challenging him to a duel for ''third place''. The young CEO had laughed in his face, but he decided to show Jounochi just how big of a difference there was between them. It had ended far to quickly for Seto to even break a sweat, and while he ignored the mutt's rants about beating him the next time they dueled, Seto started making his way towards the underground control room. Ishizu stepped out of some hiding place as Yuna returned with Anzu and Yugi and Jou complained about the Queen of Games' rival's rudeness.

The woman tried to get him to go up to the top of his tower and watch Yuna's duel, but Seto's pride was still smarting at the loss. It was only after she recited the words he had read on the stone tablet and called him 'High Priest' in ancient Egyptian that Seto even considered going. As he muled over his torturous thoughts, Noah ran out of the Battle Ship on shaky legs, asking where Yuna was. It was then that Seto decided that yes, he was going to watch the duel and make sure that Yuna stays undefeated until he gets the chance to duel against her again.

Telling Noah, Mokuba and Ishizu to follow him if they want to see Yuna beat the shit out of Malik's dark side, they should follow him as he started making his way to the express lift and they made it just in time for Seto to give the one card that will give Yuna a fighting chance against the Winged Dragon of Ra to his rival before the duel started. Yuna's friends had complained that he should't take the card, but she said she trusted him and that moment was one Seto never could forget.

The duel he had watched still made the brunet shiver as he thought about what could've happened to his rival. Marik's sick Shadow Game had out him on edge as Yuna took more and more damage and as little Yugi disappeared a bit more with every hit. He still remembered that feeling like he was going to fall apart should Yuna disappear, even though he had never felt that even when his brother's life had been at stake. It just suddenly felt like Mokuba wasn't enough and Seto hadn't known what to make of it last time he had felt it. It had caused him to be in this situation, remorsefully wishing he could somehow turn back time and change his last decision regarding his rival.

He wasn't one to think much of the past, but at this time of the year he just couldn't help but remember her. With all the talk about wish making and such, he often found himself almost wishing she was still there. He knew it was an impossible wish, but he still couldn't help it.

Yuna had won her duel against Marik, as he had expected of his rival. But she had also managed to spare everyone from a punishment, even though Marik had admitted that he had deserved it. Yuna had even given him a body of his own so he could live a life he should and Malik even forgave him for everything he did. Then, both Malik and Marik had shown Yuna her ''destiny'' that was literally carved into their backs when they were kids and Seto was shocked that he could read the hieroglyphs while Yuna somehow couldn't. He didn't comment on it, and he let it slide. It came to bite him in the butt later on, but oh well.

When everyone got out of his Duel Tower, he and Mokuba had left for the control room and activated the self-destruct protocol. Quickly leaving to board his newest plane, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon jet, Seto thought about what his rival had said about letting go of his demons and moving beyond his hatred for Gozaboro. Even as he flew next to the rescue copter that was taking the finalists back to Domino City and with the Mutt yelling down the intercom, all Seto could do was think of how much Yuna was changing him for what he wanted to believe was the better. As she and Noah waved him and Mokuba off to America, he couldn't help but want to turn around and take his rival with them.

Their building of Kaiba Land, their biggest dream, was interrupted when Yako Tenma took over the KC HQ in Domino and Seto decided that there was no way in hell he was going to let that punk take what was his. He flew back to Domino, defeated some weak duelist who thought he was easy pray and stormed all the way up to his office, almost killing a few security guards with his metal briefcase in the process, and then found Tenma, kicked him in the head with his briefcase and almost bet the ever loving shit out of him.

That's when he learned that Yuna and her friends were also involved in all of this and his rage grew. He went through great lengths to get to the top of his tower once again, and just in time to witness his rival's duel with Tenma. It was against the younger one, Yako Tenma. From the rants he has heard so far, it seems that the Perfect Duelist has faced off against the undefeated Queen of Games, and Yuna defeated Gekko Tenma.

The duel had resembled Yuna's duel against Marik a bit too much in Seto's opinion. But the ending was the same. Yuna won and even forgave Yako for the way he had treated them. When they had been exiting the Kaiba Corp building, a black limo had pulled up and from it came out none other than Pegasus, who Yako and Gekko had thought was dead. The Temna twins had thrown themselves into the silver-haired man's arms and Pegasus was just too confused to do anything else but ask what was going on while he returned the hugs.

Noah stayed with the Kaibas after that.

A few weeks later, Seto was trying to find a weakness in Yuna's strategy involving the God Monsters. It seemed like the three Monsters were always at the ready to help her win and that made her a far too powerful opponent. From what he saw on TV, he wasn't the only one trying to best the Duel Queen.

But he knew that the God Monsters couldn't be defeated easily, so he had went to Pegasus and he has dueled him with his three Blue-Eyes White Dragons at stake for what he thought were the cards that would ensure his victory. After testing them out in his computer simulation and having seen with his own eyes how the cards worked, Kaiba had called a limo to get Yuna and bring her to his duel dome.

Mokuba had been the one to greet the girl and although Noah had been objecting to what Seto was going to do, the brunet hadn't listened to him. They met in the duel arena with holograms flashing around them, Seto wanting to make this the biggest spectacle ever seen since he was sure he would win with his new cards.

The duel had started out like every other duel, intense, unpredictable and passionate! The two of them matched each other move for move, until finally, Yuna summoned Slifer The Sky Dragon and he finally unleashed his new ultimate weapon, the Pyramid of Light card, after he forced Yuna to summon her other two Egyptian God cards. He at first watched in glee as the bright pyramid threw out Yuna's most fateful monsters, but it was then he noticed something was wrong. Yuna was shaking her Puzzle and calling out Yugi's name, then looking up at Kaiba to ask him what he had done. Not wanting to lose the only chance he had of ever defeating the Queen of Games, Seto had ignored all her cries to case the battle and almost killed his Tenshi. Only when the dark sorcerer that had tricked Pegasus had appeared and attacked Seto did the brunet realize in what anguish he had pushed his rival into. The blond sorcerer, Anubis as he called himself, then took over the duel with some monsters Seto had never seen before, but the brunet had soon passed out, only to wake up to see his new dragon, the Blue-Eyes Shinning Dragon, destroy the Pyramid of Light. As he got up, seeing that Yuna had re-summoned her three God Monsters, did Seto realize that his arm was broken. Scowling at the pain, Seto watched as Yuna won the duel _he_ was supposed to be the victor of.

Thinking that it was over, all of Yuna's and Yugi's friends were about to celebrate when Anubis gave one last effort to destroy Yuna by turning himself into a huge, ugly monster. It blew away all their cards, leaving behind only one. The Blue-Eyes Shinning Dragon. Seto had only enough strength to throw it at Yuna and as soon as it touched her hand, the dragon appeared from the sky as an orb of light that soon destroyed the monstrosity that had become of Anubis. The sorcerer's last words had been curses at the ancient High Priest Seth and his three fateful dragons, something no one but Yuna and Sugoroku seemed to fully understand.

Kaiba still remembered the sad look on Yuna's face as she asked him if it was worth it to risk her life for a stupid title, and Seto surprised them both when he had said that nothing is worth more to him than Yuna. He never did forget that blush.

A few weeks later, the whole Doma and Orichalcos shit started when Dartz somehow, not only took the power of the three God Monsters but had also taken Yuna's corporal form with it as well. Seto only later found out about that, and the duel Yuna had against one of the Doma's Swordsmen's lackeys in which she faced a brainwashed Obelisk. According to what he later found out, Yuna had then received her first Legendary Dragon, the Eye of Timeus. I only knew of it because I and my company's technology was blamed for the monsters ''attacking'' the cities all around the world. I didn't hear from Yuna and the geek squad for quite a time, until we met up in Industrial Illusions headquarters in San Francisco when some wacko, Amelda of Doma, pretended to be Pegasus and tried to buy out half of Kaiba Corp. The real Pegasus was defeated and captured by Mai Kujaku, who had joined the enemy because she was tricked into thinking that the power of those stupid Orichalcos stones was going to make her Yuna and Seto's equal, along with Jounochi's. By that time, Seto had already lived through what Yuna had and he held one of the three Legendary Dragons, the Fang of Critias. Jou got his in his duel against Mai, which was interrupted by Valon, also from Doma, because Jounochi was about to win with the help of his Claw of Hermos.

Seto and Mokuba had both felt such a disturbance in finding out that their precious Yami no Tenshi was once again nothing more than a trapped spirit. Yuna had been free for so long that Seto had almost forgotten how the girl even existed. Yuna had explained that when the three God Monsters were first attacked by Leviathan, or whatever the Great Beast was called, Yuna's very soul was losing power like they were and so the Pharaoh guesses that the Millennium Puzzle had drawn her back in to save her from disappearing all together. Seto was immensely grateful for that!

Otogi had been the one to open the doors for them, since the Doma guys had made sure that they can't escape. The Kaiba brothers, Yuna and the others had then all went to the only room that had been unlocked from the main room and Yuna used a card Pegasus had sent her to open it. It led to a room full of sculptures of Toon Monsters, but the hologram message of Pegasus had hinted to a card being hidden in the room that could defeat the Great Beast with the three Legendary Dragons. It was then that Seto found out that Yuna and Jou each had a card like his and they had agreed on teaming up against Doma when the time called for it. Seto had hated leaving Yuna as vulnerable as she was in Yugi's body, but he knew that he couldn't do anything that hasn't already been done.

After they separated, Seto had a lot of trouble with his company and stocks, but things became even worse after _that_ phone call from the geek squad. Seto remembered it well. Jounochi had been the one to make the call, but the rest of them were all there as well. But, what really worried the three brothers was the fact that Yuna seemed all the more herself in Yugi's body, yet not the same Yuna they had come to know. She didn't even look up when Seto took their call, something he would not have done if he had not known that Yuna would need him soon.

But what he heard had finally severed all bonds between him and his Tenshi. Or rather, it is how he reacted. When he had heard that Yuna was defeated, Seto didn't know how to react other than attack Yuna where he knew it would hurt the most. He told her things he had never even thought of ever saying, and he had felt satisfied with how they had pained her.

Until he got off the phone and he and Mokuba both shrieked in pain. Noah was instantly beside them, asking what was wrong with such an urgent tone that it finally broke through to Seto. And as he regained awareness that his brothers were in pain and panicking, Seto realized that something terrible was missing! And just as he wondered why Yuna wasn't doing anything to ease the pain off on him and his younger brother, he saw his own heart - a darkness creping in on a ten year old version of him holding a five year old version of Mokuba as a single Blue-Eyes White Dragon tried to protect them. The other two were already dead and no matter how many times the remaining dragon fired, the shadows were still coming closer. The little Seto was in panic as he desperately called out to his Yami no Tenshi and turned towards the door that was always left ajar so Yuna could come running right in, and Seto remembered going deathly cold as he saw stone doors closed instead of the usual golden ones.

It is then that Seto realized just what he had lost. Yuna had always been there for him, even if they were separated for thousands and thousands of miles. But from that point onwards, Seto had this deep void in his heart that nothing could fill. And things only got worse as the next thing that happened was that his plane got abducted during those strange lights that meant nothing good. It was Amelda, demanding another duel since the last one had ended as a default. In that duel, Amelda had insisted that Gozaboro's sins were Seto's and that he was the same as his stepfather, as if they were truly related. And this time, she took it to the next level, showing him images that made something in Seto ache like never before!

And this time, Yuna was not there to soothe him.

Seto had managed to defeat the once again growing darkness of hatred for that man in him and he had won with the help of his loyal Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Fang of Critias. After he won, he had to stop the plane from crashing. And that's when he felt it. Yuna. She felt his need for her and all that he saw next was the other two Legendary Dragons, helping him safely lower the plane.

When he and Mokuba got out of the plane, him carrying the soulless Amelda, the first thing he saw was Yuna standing there with Anzu and Jou and Honda running up too them. His heart ached at the sight of the hurt that had flashed across those crimson eyes and the deep sadness that seemed to be becoming a part of her. It disturbed Seto that he could have been the cause and he wanted to make up for it, but he couldn't as the rest of the Yugi-tachi bombarded him with questions right before Isono arrived in one of his helicopters.

Noah was there, too, hugging Yuna as soon as he saw her. He didn't let go of her, even as they all got into the copter and discussed the fact that Dartz, the head of Doma, had bought out Kaiba Corp. Isono and Fubeta insisted that he was still their boss and with his younger brothers' support, Seto gathered enough wits to decide to fight like he has never before. And with the possibility of Yuna's happiness returning if he won, he had no choice but to win.

The whole situation at Kaiba Corp wasn't a pleasant one, what with all those monsters on the lose. He and Yuna had fought like beasts but they had made it to the computer all the same and they had been able to see who their enemy is. Yuna had looked shocked, but then when Dartz said something Seto would rather not remember, Yuna's face had changed to that of rage. But she soon calmed down and they were dragged to some strange space, where Dartz summoned Leviathan and they summoned their Legendary Dragons. However, Dartz left before a real fight could start and left the two of them to end off the monsters still invading the building. Seto had led Yuna to the rooftop, where he told her to trust him and jump. He was so happy when she didn't even hesitate and jumped, meaning she still trusted him. They had landed in the waiting Blue-Eyes White Dragon Jet, but it was shot down before he could steer it away from danger. Luckily, they were safe and they could return to the group, where they were warmly greeted by Noah and Mokuba. Seto then left with his brothers with only a back glance at Yuna and a reminder of how they can find Jou, who had ran off to get his soul stolen apparently, and then left.

Seto had bought a nice red sports car that Mokuba said he liked and the three brothers started riding through the town, but were forced to stop as one of the many Orichalcos soldiers came out of nowhere and Seto had to summon his Blue-Eyes and Critias to defeat them. They had almost got Mokuba and Noah, but Seto had been able to save them.

Not long after that, Crititas had appeared on one of the buildings, along with Timeus, and both dragons had cried out in what was both rage and pain. The CEO got a bad feeling that something had happened to Jounochi, which was proven true not half an hour later, when they ran into Anzu and Honda, the other brunet carrying his already soulless friend. Before he could feel anything truly about the situation at hand, and before he could ask where Yuna was, Mokuba screamed as they saw swarms of hundreds of thousands of rats with glowing red eyes running towards them. Seto and Honda helped the others up to a fire exit and then jumped up to hold onto the edge of it as the pests ran below them. They soon left, and as soon as he could, Seto asked about the whereabouts of his rival. Kaiba remembered feeling a cold sense of unimaginable dread in his stomach as he heard that she had ran off on her own and before even Mokuba could try to make him stop, the CEO had ran off in the direction he knew Yuna to be heading.

At least until Noah reminded him that they had a fancy _fast_ sport scar right there.

When they got to the building they believed was Dartz's HQ, they saw that Mai was already taken care of. It looked like she had returned to her senses and went to duel for the blond, but she was defeated. When they all looked at the elevator, they saw that someone had got off on the top floor. Seto led the group in and when they got to the last floor, they were almost not even shocked to see Yuna dueling against a tall blond man, the Seal already around them and glowing on the man's forehead. Honda explained that he was the one that had defeated Yugi and that had the Kaibas turning to look at him strangely. Honda explained that when the duel was over and Rafael, the man now dueling Yuna, threw at them Yugi's supposedly soulless body, they had thought that both of the two souls were taken, but it had been Yuna that had woken up, not Yugi. Honda said that Jou had instantly seen that it wasn't Yuna dueling, but little Yugi in an attempt to protect the Pharaoh. Anzu then added that Yuna had explained that just as she was going to start the duel, Yugi had thrusted her back into something she called a soul room, Seto and Mokuba had twitched at that but said nothing, and that Yugi had then taken over the duel. When Yugi was gone, Yuna had blamed herself and refused to talk much. Then they had called Kaiba and Seto knew that his reaction had only made it worse for Yuna.

However, Yuna had been able to get over it all when she and Anzu ended up in some valley where Yuna dueled Yugi's spirit and won, then they had met with the Kaibas. And now, Yuna was defeating Rafael's darkness, freeing him from the Orichalcos. Seto didn't like how the blond man looked like Yuna was the love of his life when he got to see his parents with his Guardian Iatos before the Seal was broken. That's when the building started shaking and they all had to run towards the helicopter Isono had brought to save them, but Seto had had to run back to save Yuna as she had been trying to help Rafael. The blond fell to what they thought to be his doom, but Yuna was saved by Seto and the two made it back to the helicopter just in time. Rafael seemed to have given Yuna a flash-drive that held the coordinates of where Dartz was hiding and so they went there.

They had to make a little stop as the army had stopped them in their journey, just to beg them to stop Dartz, but then they made their way into a hurricane but made it through to the island. They then went in and soon, Yuna and Seto were demanding that Dartz gives back everything and everyone he took. The aquamarine-haired man normally didn't and they had to duel him for it. Good thing Yuna and Seto were the ''dream team'' as Mokuba had called them and had started off great, but things slowly started going downhill.

Seto was the first to fall, after he had managed to destroy Dartz's Kyutora, a monster that used to absorb all the battle damage he would take, and they were shown a brief image of Atlantis when Dartz was king. He didn't know what had happened, but he knew that he had kissed Yuna on the lips before his soul was stolen from him.

The next thing he remembered was being stuck in a bubble with Jounochi, Pegasus, Yugi and many others. Pegasus had then explained that the Legendary Dragons weren't what they seemed, and later on he found out what the man had meant, after the Dragon's turned Knights released them from the Great Leviathan's feeding bowl and they went after Dartz. Only Yugi, Jou and Kaiba were released, but they then went to Atlantis in hopes of saving everyone else. Yuna had been to defeat Dartz all on her own, but they knew she was already exhausted and couldn't do much on her own. Yugi had taken over until Dartz had appeared with Leviathan, apparently awoken by Dartz's soul, and they had been in danger of dying.

Yuna had took over control like she the Pharaoh she was and they soon saw that Timeus, Critias and Hermos were actually knights, not dragons. The fight had seemed futile and they were even captured, but Seto remembered Yuna asking everyone that was absorbed by the Leviathan to join together and fight the darkness. He felt a little spark in his soul and he knew that Yuna truly needed him. He, and everyone else for that matter, gave Yuna all their power and she was able to summon the three God Monsters. As the were thrown out of the Great Beast, Seto saw Yuna detach herself from Yugi and become solid once again, but he had a flashing image of tan skin, linen and gold jewelry before she returned to her pale, leather clad self. Before anyone could say anything, she ordered them to stay where they were and told them that this was her fight. Before anyone could object, she followed her three Kas with the help of Shadow Magic and she was out of sight.

Not long after she disappeared from sight, lights started flashing through the skies and not long after that Leviathan was seen falling into the sea. The Pharaoh soon returned and they started making their way back, but the spiky-haired pair stayed behind to fight off Dartz one last time. Seto felt sick as he saw the swirling black pillar, knowing that Yuna was in possible danger, but it soon disappeared. Not a moment later, Atlantis was sinking back into the sea and they had to leave, but they did find Yugi and Yuna a little later on.

Not a week later, Yuna was once again by his side during the KC Grand Prix. He had decided to open Kaiba Land with a tournament with a title shot, so he had sent Mokuba and Noah to invite everyone. But then they had that problem with the hacker, who turned out to be Siegfried Von Schroeder, an old rival of Kaiba Corp. Yuna had been a great help, keeping her title all the while and boosting KC's reputation to even greater hight.

But then Seto didn't see her for a very long time, until he was suddenly drawn into some sort of magical jungle. He had almost died there, since the Dark Magician was about to attack him to defend his master, when he and Yuna bumped into each other. She explained to him that it was a sort of a test that was first meant for Alexander the Great, but Shadi, who Seto thought sounded very familiar for some reason, had made a mistake and Alexander had been able to trap them in one extra part of the game when he lost against Yuna and the others in the final test Shadi had prepared. The rest of the group (Jou, Anzu, Honda, Yugi and Sugoroku) were captured and are now held hostage against Yuna and Seto had no idea how he even got there. He had been shopping with his brothers when he was suddenly drawn out of his changing room into some vortex. They did defeat Alexander, seeing as Seto had been able to draw out the Blue-Eyes White Dragon from the temple where they had been offering lives in exchange for his protection and they Yuna had been able to merge with it once again.

When they returned from that adventure, something even weirder happened in Domino.

A girl, Kisara, started insisting on calling Seto Seth and flirting with him and pissing Yuna off. She often said things in ancient Egyptian that had Seto seething when he saw that it was always making Yuna sad. Bakura had given the white-haired, blue-eyed girl a black eye one day and snarled at her that she was nothing but a lowly bitch that the High Priest used once and then threw away when he realized what he had done.

Yuna started looking less and less bothered by the things Kisara said and soon even seemed to remember enough of her past life to even taunt her for the lies she was trying to tell.

That had always confused Seto, how both Yuna and Bakura described that High Priest he was that supposed reincarnation of, as if he was someone that should be feared more than all the evils of the world put together. Truth be told, he felt intimidated when he thought of all the stories the two ancient spirits and even Sugoroku and Ishizu told them about the man and his enormous power, as well as his abnormal loyalty for Yuna.

He didn't know what to believe until _it_ happened.

One day, when Bakura, Marik, Ishizu and Shadi and Yuna had been performing various spells at the same time, a giant pulse of energy ran through the whole of Domino and Seto had felt as if something was ripped out of him. Not even a full five minutes later, he got a distressed call from Ishizu that he should immediately meet her at the game shop. When he got there, it was already chaos. As soon as he opened the door, Jounochi, Honda and Ototgi flew through it and he hear Mai scream. Ishizu barely scrambled out of the way as Seto drew his brothers to safety, but poor Rishid wasn't so lucky. He then heard Malik and Marik yelling at someone and then he heard a voice almost the same as his curtly say something, more yelling from the psychopaths then Bakura cursing as a menacing aura filled the air. Before anyone could even register what was happening, Marik flew out of the game shop with Malik hitting the wall next to the doors.

When Seto had looked up, he was met with eyes the same as his, a face like his and a body like his. There stood an exact duplicate of Seto Kaiba, except he looked amazing in those silly long blue robes and gold jewelry. Just behind this double-ganger was Yuna, kneeling in front of the two children that Seto _knew_ were supposed to stay in the one place only Yuna had entered other than him and Mokuba. A few minutes later, they heard flapping of large wings, turning to see a younger version of the High Priest of Egypt jumping down from a real, life sized Blue-Eyes White Dragon. He sneered at the boys who tried to scramble out of the dragons sight, but then groaned as they heard tires burning in a sudden halt.

The three Doma members all glared at the younger High Priest, until one of them noticed the older one and the three paled at the sight of him. That was the most scared Seto ever remembered Ishizu and _Bakura_ ever being. Then Sugoroku had walked in and all but fainted at the sight of the High Priest and Ishizu and Rishid looked really nervous and Seth had greeted Ishizu with Isis and Sugoroku with Shimon, confusing everyone.

They all stood there for a good few minutes, just gawking at the impossible man before them, before Yuna took action and introduced him to everyone as Seth, Prince, High Priest and later Pharaoh of Egypt. That had everyone gaping even more, until he called Yuna cousin and then everyone was just floored. Yuna explained that Seth's father was Aknadin, her uncle, and that Seth had practically raised her. She told them that he had watched over her since she was born, that he had been the one to name her. They learned so much about both Yuna and how she came to be stuck in the Millennium Puzzle for five millennia in that month Seth spent with them. Seto also learned of why that battle between Yuna and her cousin happened, since it seemed Kisara and partly Bakura and Aknadin were involved. It all ended up being a very bad misunderstanding, and Yuna had no choice but to seal herself away for the sake of her people.

During his stay, Seth alos got rid of what was left of Seto's darkness and even managed to get him and Yuna back on the terms they used to have before the whole Doma thing. He even told Seto everything that happened, telling him that he should keep going the same path he had taken ever since he tore up the Blue-Eyes White Dragon card Sugoroku had been keeping. Seth seems to think that Seto had freed himself from the dark path that had destroyed Seth's and Yuna's first love. He gave Seto lessons and told him how to summon the Millennium Rod at any time.

Not long after he left, Seto was surprised to see Bakura back in Ryou's body, demanding a duel with him for Mokuba's safety. They never did finish that duel, although the next day he was flying off to Egypt because the Millennium Eye had showed him a vision of Yuna in full Pharaoh getup, in need of his help. When he got there, he ran into Ishizu and Rishid, both looking over Malik, who was once again stuck with Marik. Ishizu looked terrified and tried to stop him, but Seto was just as stubborn as Seth and he went anyway. He found his soul landed in the time of the night Seth made the first bad move and Seto didn't allow it to happen this time around. The High Priest, at the age that Seto himself was instead of the five years of difference Seth had over them, looked so horrified at the thought of one day betraying the Pharaoh that he ran off at the speed of light. Kisara was soon standing in front of him instead of Seth, demanding to know where her supposed ''lover'' had went and Seto had put her down in such a way he was sure she wouldn't dare disrespect the High Priest's decision or the Pharaoh herself.

He was a bit wrong there, since she then went to Zork the Dark One, the real reason Yuna and Bakura were both sealed away and the Pharaoh's enemy, for help and the demon had taken over the Thief King, and then Aknadin. When Seto got to the point of time Yuna and the Yugi-tachi were, he was there just in time to see how Yuna freed the forth Blue-Eyes White Dragon and allowed it to destroy Kisara's, which had invaded Seth's soul with the help of Zork and the then Dark Priest Aknadin. Seth still mourned the death of Kisara, but he quickly went back to helping Yuna.

But before that, Seto got the chance to talk to Yuna and he was surprised when she had hugged him. She even kissed his cheek! Kaiba had felt like the happiest man alive, until he saw Seth smirking in their direction, which was not possible since no one but Yuna and Kisara had been able to see him so far. Then he remembered that Seth rivaled Yuna in power and skill and he had to wonder if the stubborn High Priest had found a way to get into the Memory World.

The three had left together, since they still had Zork to take down. Yuna and her army tried everything, but it was futile, even after Mana returned the Millennium Items. Shimon, who looked far too similar to Sugoroku for Seto to be comfortable, had been able to summon Exodia and it had fought bravely against Zork, but still lost. Then Seth had sent his Blue-Eyes White Dragon and nearly won, but still fell to Zork's power, injured. That's when Seto knew he had to do something and he summoned his own three Blue-Eyes White Dragons, but Zork was intimidated.

At least not until he combined them into Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, something that had the whole of Egypt cheering as it was able to match Zork's strength. But it was still not strong enough, at lest not until Yuna jumped off the palace balcony and used the Millennium Scales and her Puzzle to summon Black Luster Soldier and then combined herself with the Dragon Master Knight. Seto had given her his strength and a huge explosion had sent Zork a good way away from the palace, but he was not defeated. He just got up and neared them again.

That's when the Yugi-tachi arrived and the three God Cards immediately flew to Yuna's side. Mahad, the Dark Magician, appeared before his master and protected her and her friends along with Hasan, the Protector of Pharaohs. The Yugi-tachi tried to remember the characters they had seen that made up the Pharaoh's name, but before they could, Seth sent Seto the image and before he could stop himself, he whispered the name. Yuna's eyes had widened and it looked like she was seeing her whole life before her eyes as the three God Monsters went back to fight Zork, who was shocked at their reappearance.

After what felt like an eternity, the name appeared on the cartouche hanging from around her neck. And by the blue and gold glow with which it had appeared, Seto had no doubt that it was the doing of Seth and not the geeks. Yuna's eyes snapped open and Seto still remembers the power seen there as she lifted the necklace up and yelled that one sentence.

"I am Pharaoh Athena!"

Yuna, no Athena, won and they had been able to return, but Athena no longer had a body of her own. The cartouche had hung around Yugi's neck when they had woken up, but Seto had gotten a message from Seth, the Priest turned Pharaoh instructing him that he should be the one to duel Yuna for her last test, but Yugi hadn't let him. Kaiba, to this day, _the_ Seto Kaiba regretted not being more insistent on the matter. Yuna, Athena would have won if Yugi hadn't of accidentally cheated by tapping in to the remains of the link the two once had. Before the last move could be made, the huge doors had opened and Seth only barely managed to snatch Yuna up. A few seconds later, dark tendril almost killed Yugi had the Priest not warned him to run and never return. The tomb had then collapsed and all hope of ever seeing the Pharaoh crumbled with the ancient underground chamber.

Seto had been furious at Yugi, even slapped him, as he yelled at him that the challenge Seth had made for Athena wasn't so she could return to the afterlife but so she could live out a life she was denied the last time she breathed. The Yugi-tachi and the Ishtar family had looked on in shock as Seto, for the first time in over ten years, let the first of many tears slide down his cheeks. When they returned to the city, Mokuba looked just as heart-broken, since he had sensed the departure of their guardian on the same level as Seto had. Malik and Ryou often were about to say something, but would abruptly shut up, so the CEO guessed they were going to tell their Yamis something but then remembered they were no longer there. Seto learned from Ryou that Zork had once again possessed Bakura and the Thief had given up his body to try to save the Pharaoh from having to deal with the demon once again, but Zork still found a way to possess him.

Seto was glad that Noah and Cynthia were left the same, with a physical body and a chance to finish their life like they should have, but the Thief's absence, as well as Yuna's, was felt very much every day. The world still mourned the Queen of Games, and the Yugi-tachi had separated because they could no longer look at each other since they would always remember all the times they had failed Yuna. The girl was never forgotten and Seto had even started building a dueling school in her honor. It was almost done, his Duel Academy.

Now, as he stood before his home office window, all alone, Seto only regretted never telling Yuna or Athena or his Yami no Tenshi just how much she had meant to him, in every way. He sighed, not believing how much he and Yuna could have had, could have done, had he not been such a coward. Even after Seth had clearly warned him that her time in the human world will forever be limited, he had ignored the wise man and let her slip through his fingers like sand.

That also reminded him of the poem Seth had written for Yuna and it made him wonder how Ishizu could be so stupid to think that Seth could ever want to really take Yuna down.

 ** _The dead lie down,_**

 ** _Vessels turn to sand, to dust,_**

 ** _Gold and even swords adorn the sheath of time,_**

 ** _The dead share not the Pharaoh's name,_**

 ** _I cry out,_**

 ** _The verses of battle,_**

 ** _The verses of friendship,_**

 ** _Lead me to where souls afar cross._**

Seto didn't like how he reacted every time he thought of it.

 ** _Amongst the numerous people killed, friend and foe alike ..._**

 ** _Amongst the people who escaped with their lives ..._**

 ** _There was not a person who possessed the Pharaoh's name._**

 ** _Because,_**

 ** _You had vanished like dust-like grains of sand-right before my eyes ..._**

Not only Seth had had to witness it happen.

 ** _Since they are grains of sand, I shall collect them all together._**

 ** _Since the body is a sword and the mind is gold,_**

 ** _Please be adorned in the sheath of time and rest in peace, for now._**

He would always swallow the bump in his throat.

 ** _In the forthcoming rematches-I certainly pray you will win on the battlefield of the souls..._**

 ** _Pharaoh, I..._**

 ** _'Till the time we can meet again..._**

 ** _Live the live your heart desires..._**

 ** _Not as a king,_**

 ** _But as a human being..._**

 ** _I can wait._**

And Seth had waited and he had reincarnated in the form of Seto Kaiba, only for said reincarnation to fail him. Seto knew, that if he had the chance, he would make up for it all by drawing Yuna into his arms and keeping her by his side.

But, even if he wished hard enough for it, that was impossible.

Seto sighed and was about to take another sip of his alcoholic drink when he heard the knocking on his front doors. That was odd, since he knew there was no way for anyone to make it to his front doors, he had ordered his staff as such. Looking at the camera viewing that part of the mansion, he was surprised to see a hooded figure standing there and it made him wonder who it could be.

Deciding to check it out and yell his agitated heart out at the insolent person, the CEO stalked to the door and yanked it open, only to freeze as the person fell into his arms, shivering. Before he could do anything, he felt an oddly, familiarly sharp object and he gasped when he saw gold glinting in the low light. Looking, really looking, at his guest, Seto almost lost himself as he saw tricolored hair, Pharaoh-like clothes and gold jewelry.

Bringing in the impossible being in his arms, Seto placed her near the fireplace and light a fire. Half and hour later, when it was 23.46, the reborn Pharaoh stirred awake, only to find Seto looming over her.

''Seto!'' She breathed and threw herself into his arms, hugging him as if there was no tomorrow. The thought left Seto feeling sick, even as he couldn't stop himself from hugging her back. It was just far too impossible to be true!

''Yuna.'' He chocked out, knowing that even if it was just a dream, Yuna thought of him and worried for him, knowing she still saw herself as his Yami no Tenshi. ''Ho-how is this possible?''

Yuna pulled back, only a little, and Seto felt himself falling for her all over again, losing himself in her eyes. She cupped his face with her petite hands and smiled at him. ''Seth is far more powerful than even I thought him to be. But, then again, there are two parts of his soul, one of them being just as powerful as the first. Seto, your wish brought me here, enabled Seth to open the doors once again and let me come to you.''

''You mean he ...?''

Yuna nodded.

''But why? I thought he saw us as unworthy of you ever since what Yugi had done. Why would he guide you back here?'' Seto didn't understand. He knew Seth loved his cousin, in more ways than one, more than anything else so why would the far too overprotective older cousin let his beloved come back to a place he had judged as unworthy of someone such as Athena of the Egyptian Crown.

Said Pharaoh smiled at him a bit sadly. ''He loves me far too much to make me stay when I was not at peace not happy without my new friends. He understood and he told me that he only had one condition. It seems that you have fulfilled that condition and now I am here! I am so happy!'' She said and sniffed as a few tears fell down her cheeks. Seto immediately started whipping them away and Yuna leaned into his touch. That's when Seto realized what Yuna must be speaking off, the conversation which he had once had with her cousin finally making sense. Understanding dawned at Seto and he drew Yuna that much closer as she silently cried.

''Yuna!''

''Yes, that is my name, even thought this little thing says otherwise.'' She said with a smile as she pointed at the cartouche still around her neck. ''Seth said I had to have it so he could visit and I am more than happy to go and visit them as well.''

''So you are staying? Do the others even know?''

She smirked. ''The Ishtars will know soon enough, as well as Ryou, since he allowed Bakura and Marik to follow me. It seems that Malik's and Ryou's wishes were strong enough to pull them out and I know they will be thrilled to see them again!''

''Wait, wish?''

A nod. ''Yeah. Seth made one more barging with the Gods and won, making them to allow us to live one last life.''

Seto shuddered. He didn't know that Seth could do such pretty scary things. ''But, you will stay for sure?''

Her smirk turned playful. ''Why? Looking for a way to get rid of me already?'' She teased and Seto knew the best way to answer. Yuna could only moan as Seto kissed her on the lips, at first softly but as it grew heated it also got a bit rougher. Yuna had no problem with that, letting Seto ravish her. He kissed and kissed her until they were both forced to pull away unless they wanted to pass out. Both were breathing hard and Yuna's head was on Seto's chest, she in his lap as he hugged her even closer to himself and kissed down her neck.

When he murmured something against her neck, Yuna shivered but still barely managed to ask him what he had said.

''I love you.'' He repeated and Yuna smiled at him as she brought his face up to look her in the eyes.

''I love you, too.'' They kissed again, this time ending up with Yuna lying down on the couch with Seto hovering over her. Both ignored as the nearby grandfather clock struck midnight, or the few calls Seto was receiving from his brothers and Pegasus, as the brunet finally allowed himself to do things he had always wished for.

Then again, all his wishes could slowly start coming true, since his biggest wish since he met Yuna had just come true. Yuna was his and he would keep it that way until the day he died. Even after that!

''You are my greatest wish.'' Seto murmured as their bodies became slick with sweat as they moved together. Yuna just moaned, flushed and feeling almost too good to even hear her new lover as he pleasured her still. ''Please, Yuna, make me the happiest man in existence and be my wife.''

Yuna looked up at him with such love in her eyes Seto was surprised he hadn't gone crazy from just seeing it. ''Yes!'' She exclaimed. ''Yes, yes, yes!'' She continued whispering as she kissed him all over his face and he could no longer hold himself back. Soon, all that could be hear in the mansion were happy sounds as the two enjoyed themselves and celebrated the New Year that brought back the Queen of Games,


End file.
